Your shoulder complex was made to accomplish the greatest range of motion while maintaining the most degrees of freedom of all the body’s joint systems. Approximately, 90 percent of all swimmer’s complaints they bring to their physiotherapist or doctor are related to problems with their shoulders, and one of the most notable is a condition known as swimmer’s shoulder.

At PRI, we are committed to helping you return to your active lifestyle if you’ve developed swimmer’s shoulder (or any other injury.) We are your go-to orthopedic specialists, and will work to get you back in the water as soon as possible.

What is Swimmer’s Shoulder?

Swimmer’s shoulder, also called shoulder impingement, is a condition where swimmers often aggravate their shoulders while they swim due to the constant joint rotation. If you’re an enthusiastic swimmer, it’s likely you’ve had or will have swimmer’s shoulder. You might even suffer from shoulder pain by swimming frequently during the summertime.

Your shoulder is an extremely mobile joint and because of this, it needs to be controlled well by the ligaments and muscles surrounding the joint. You can overwork your ligaments and muscles with things like:

You can rotate your shoulder many times (thousands) in just an hour by simply swimming freestyle. This repetitive movement tires out your rotator cuff muscles and being positioned improperly will cause your surrounding tissues and muscles to rub against one another.

The irritation and inflammation that occurs afterward can begin causing pain if you keep on swimming. And, your shoulder will keep on feeling this way unless you reduce the inflammation properly as well as retrain and stretch the rotator cuff muscles.

Swimmer’s Shoulder’s Treatment

Identifying the involved tendons or muscles, the severity or stage of the problem and receiving proper diagnosis will result in the most efficient treatment. A proper plan of treatment includes:

1. Applying ice. Apply directly to the shoulder after training for around 20 minutes.
2. Use anti-inflammatory medications. Use for a few days after the injury to reduce inflammation.
3. Rest. This might mean total rest with no swimming for about 24 to 48 hours depending on the severity. Or, you may be able to swim, but decrease yardage while you avoid butterfly, backstroke or kicking only with your arms at your side. Wait a few days until you’re free of pain before you resume swim training.

4.. Get professional passive care. This might include things like:

5. Do rehabilitation exercises. These will strengthen your weak muscles (particularly your external shoulder rotators). You perform these exercises with minimal weights (three to five pounds) and perform them in an extremely controlled, specific manner. Perform these exercises a few time a week if you’ve ever had problems with your shoulders. Typically, it’s said that for each day you swim on a bad shoulder, you’ll require one day of rehab.

6. Modify your swimming training. It’s often said hand paddles aren’t good for your shoulders. Certain types of fins keep your body elevated in the water; therefore, they might help if you begin experiencing small problems with your shoulders during your workout. Ask the coach or a friend to check your body and arm position. They may even want to videotape you so you can take a look and the coach can discuss the stroke mechanics with you.

Physiotherapy Treatment

To complement one or more of the above treatments, a physiotherapy program is often a beneficial and necessary treatment for recovering from swimmer’s shoulder.  The physical therapist or orthopedist can stretch and massage your rotator cuff muscles manually since they can be hard to reach. This releases tension and helps prevent further irritation.

The orthopedist likely have you perform custom exercises if you’ve healed enough, to target your rotator cuff muscles. By strengthening up these muscles, it can help provide shoulder joint support during activity, helping make it more resistant to injury in the future. Your shoulder orthopedist may additionally help you recondition your shoulder to prevent it from becoming a weak spot down the road.

Sports rehabilitation often benefits athletes and this can help you continue swimming while rehabilitating and implement different techniques to keep pressure off the joints of your shoulders. It’s also important to warm up and cool down your muscles before and after swimming.

What treatments does PRI offer for shoulder pain?

At PRI, we specialize in a variety of techniques aimed at alleviating nagging pains and increasing mobility to aching shoulders. After correctly identifying the source of the pain, they employ extensive mobility stretches and exercises aimed to release tension to the area and increase blood flow. If the issue stems from subluxations (spinal misalignment), a full spine and body approach will be taken over an isolation treatment. It is important to remember to practice proper technique with and without doctor supervision. Physical health is after all a full time endeavor. Taking home these exercises and executing them regularly will lead to a stronger and more resilient shoulder.

To find out how we can help you, please contact us at:

Tel:      (416) 477-1101

E-mail: reception@priclinic.com

Web:   www.priclinic.com

There are different treatments that can be used to help children with autism. When a child is diagnosed with this condition, medical experts come up with a therapy program that can be used in the treatment process. One of the most effective forms of therapy is aquatic therapy. This therapy involves the use of water and it plays an important role in enhancing the child’s quality of life and improving productivity. Therapists use specifically designed water activities to help in restoration, improvement, and enhancing quality functions of a child with Autism.

Physical benefits of the therapy

According to research, water is the ideal medium for body rehabilitation or exercise. The water provides an ideal environment, which helps to reduce body weight by up to 90%. The warm water decreases stress or affect the body while also reducing spasticity and relaxing muscles. By engaging in specific well-directed water activities, the child is able to gauge his or her own body boundaries much better. The child is able to regulate the force that the body exerts when performing tasks or playing and this helps to improve posture, balance, and coordination.

Dealing with sensory issues

Children who have autism often have significant sensory difficulties that are usually very distractible. The children often have strong reactions to different textures and they can over or under react to different stimuli in the environment. The therapist starts by evaluating the water temperature as well as noise and other distractions in the water. When all the factors are taken into consideration, the water helps to provide a safe environment that supports the child while also providing him or her with necessary hydrostatic pressure. Many children are able to tolerate touch better after aquatic therapy.

Improving the child’s social skills

Group therapy sessions can help children with autism to improve their social skills. The training includes sessions that target specific skills. During these group sessions, the children work with the therapist and other children. They learn how to engage with their group mates, while also sharing toys and equipment. By experiencing cooperative and competitive play, the children develop a mental attitude and increased self-confidence. Clinicians report a substantial improvement in initiating and maintaining eye contact during and after the therapy sessions.

Help with cognitive improvements

Pediatric aquatic therapy can help children with Autism to improve their concentration and attention span. The therapy focuses on play-based functional movement, facilitating neurodevelopmental growth and improving range of motion. The therapy improves body awareness, while also helping the children to have fun. The one-on-one session can help children with autism when it comes to impulse control, ability to follow instructions and frustration tolerance.

There are numerous benefits of aquatic therapy and specialists are able to teach the children about water safety. Despite the benefits, do note that children with Autism often present safety risks when they are in the pool and their distracted nature can be a real problem, so it is important to ensure intense supervision when these children are in the water.

If you have a child with Autism, please see a specialist at the PRI clinic. This multi-disciplinary team is specifically trained to properly introduce their body to aquatic therapy, which will allow a remarkable improvement in their lifestyle. To book a consultation, please call or follow these links.

Tel:      (416) 477-1101

E-mail: reception@priclinic.com

Web:   www.priclinic.com

We look forward to helping you out!

Clinicians in all settings can teach their patients to use relaxation, meditation, hypnosis, guided imagery, and other techniques that utilize the mind-body connection to achieve relief from chronic pain conditions. The key for providers is to build a good rapport with their patients, be aware of the power of suggestion and the language that they use when creating expectations in patients, and to practice what they preach when it comes to these techniques. Another technique that was shown to be very effective for chronic chronic low-back pain and chronic neck pain is chiropractic care.

One such study recruited 125 chiropractic clinics from six U.S. cities Because of the vigorous participation and dedication of these clinics, survey data from over 2,000 chiropractic patients with chronic low back and/or neck pain was collected. The data included three-month longitudinal surveys as well as chiropractic chart data for the majority of respondents.

Preliminary study findings were presented to expert appropriateness panels on manipulation and mobilization for chronic low back pain and chronic neck pain. Results were shared at numerous academic conferences, including the International Congress for Integrative Medicine and Health, the American Public Health Association, and multiple chiropractic professional conferences.

Data were collected from chiropractic patients using multistage systematic stratified sampling with 4 sampling levels: regions and states, sites (ie, metropolitan areas), providers and clinics, and patients. The sites and regions were San Diego, California; Tampa, Florida; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Seneca Falls and Upstate New York; Portland, Oregon; and Dallas, Texas. Data were collected from patients through an iPad-based prescreening questionnaire in the clinic and emailed links to full screening and baseline online questionnaires. The goal was to focus on patients with Chronic Low-Back Pain (CLBP) and Chronic Neck Pain (CNP) from each clinic.

6342 patients at 125 clinics completed the prescreening questionnaire, 3333 patients started the full screening questionnaire, and 2024 eligible patients completed the baseline questionnaire: 518 with CLBP only, 347 with CNP only, and 1159 with both. In general, most of this sample were highly-educated, non-Hispanic, white females with at least partial insurance coverage for chiropractic care who have been in pain and using chiropractic care for years. Over 90% reported high satisfaction with their care, few used narcotics, and avoiding surgery was the most important reason they chose chiropractic care.

Chiropractic care as part of the healthcare team can play an important role in the assessment and management of chronic pain related to MSK conditions. More and more studies are providing evidence of effective relief of chronic pain through chiropractic treatment.

For more info on how to take control of your health, and tackle chronic pain in a smart way, please reach out to:

Phone: (416) 477-1101

E-mail: reception@priclinic.com

Web:   www.priclinic.com